‘Stand with us against arrests’—interview with Turkish socialist

Turkish president Recep Erdogan

The Turkish regime is ramping up its repression of left wing and pro-Kurdish political opponents. It has arrested 282 people since Friday in a national round-up of those with suspected “terror” ties. 

Burak Demir is from the revolutionary socialist party DSIP in Turkey. He told Socialist Worker, “The latest wave of arrests comes at a time when the ruling AKP party has suffered mass defections from its voter base.”

The arrests have targeted the left wing HDK coalition and the DEM, a party which supports the Kurds who are oppressed by the Turkish state. Senol Karakas, a leading member of DSIP, was also arrested. 

“At the moment, we don’t know the exact reason for the arrests,” Burak said. “We see all these attacks as an attempt to intimidate the growing opposition and suppress grassroots struggles at a time when the AKP is losing power.”

President Recep Erdogan and his AK Party has gone as far as removing pro-Kurdish politicians from their posts. 

It’s a violent crackdown that continues Turkey’s long history of Kurdish repression. Burak said that, “Repression has intensified not only against the Kurdish movement but also against the CHP.” 

This is the Kemalist nationalist party, which secured first place in the last local elections. 

Burak said, “The CHP’s Istanbul mayor is facing multiple legal charges. A local CHP mayor has been removed and a government-appointed trustee has been installed in his place.”

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is a proscribed organisation in Turkey, as well as in numerous Western states. 

The recent spate of arrests fits into the trend of Kurdish persecution at the hands of an authoritarian Turkish state. 

But, amid the arrests, there were unfolding peace negotiations between the Turkish state and the Kurds. 

They primarily involve DEM and Abdullah Ocalan, who founded the PKK in 1978 and was imprisoned for life in 1999. 

The state is allowing meetings between the DEM party and Ocalan. On Wednesday, Turkey’s Minister of Justice Yilmaz Tunc confirmed that a third meeting would be allowed between the DEM party and Ocalan. 

The ruling party has built its authoritarian rule on hostility toward the Kurds, both domestically and especially in neighbouring Syria. 

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party are also involved in negotiations. They make up the Kurdistan Regional Government, an autonomous region across the Turkish border in northern Iraq. 

But Burak described the current negotiations “as a peace process with kicks and punches”. “Negotiation and oppression are unfolding simultaneously as the far right MHP—the government’s coalition partner—is leading on talks,” he said. 

The deal being negotiated would see the PKK lay down its arms in return for Ocalan’s freedom.

Burak said, “The ruling party has built its authoritarian rule on hostility toward the Kurds, both domestically and especially in neighbouring Syria. 

“These ongoing attacks during the peace talks may be aimed at strengthening the state’s position at the negotiation table.”

There are several reasons behind the negotiations. The ongoing negotiations with the PKK are likely an attempt to increase Turkey’s influence in Syria amid the regime change. 

The PKK’s Syrian offshoot are part of the Syrian Democratic Forces, which control the north east of the country. 

Erdogan has maintained power for over two decades, first as prime minister and now as president. 

But under Turkey’s constitution, presidents are allowed only two terms. As it stands, Erdogan is set to lose his grip on Turkey at the next presidential elections in 2028. 

To maintain power, Erdogan has two options. Firstly, he could urge parliament to call an early election. For that, he would require wider support—potentially that includes support from pro-Kurdish parties. Erdogan’s current peace deal could be a bid to win that support. 

Alternatively, Erdogan could force through a change to the constitution. He’s already done that before—in 2017 he pushed a referendum that transformed Turkey into a presidential republic. 

“Since then, we have been living under an authoritarian system,” explained Burak. “It is characterised by fabricated charges, arbitrary arrests, and a judiciary that has become a direct tool of political intervention.

“Prisons are overcrowded—political prisoners, particularly members of the Kurdish political movement, face systematic repression as part of the regime’s deliberate policy,” 

DSIP has demanded the immediate release of all those arrested. Its statement said, “We know that these raids are a part of a politics of intimidation against the whole of society.  

“We will continue to stand together, as we strengthen solidarity and build our struggle against the politics of oppression that aim to criminalise demands for peace.”